1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method including a multitask OS (operating system), and to a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when intending to operate a plurality of application simultaneously which require a certain resource of a computer, an application program is started without checking whether or not another application program which requires the resource has already been started.
In the above-described conventional approach, however, conflict in use of the resource occurs because a plurality of application programs which require the same resource can be started simultaneously. As a result, in some cases, even if an instruction to start an application program is provided, the application program cannot actually be operated, or the operation of another application program being operated is hindered.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing method and apparatus, and a storage medium in which conflict in a resource is prevented.
According to one aspect, the present invention which achieves the above-described object relates to an information processing method including a first step, of detecting, upon reception of an instruction to start a first program, whether a second program which uses a resource needed by the first program is already being executed, and a second step, of terminating execution of the second program and starting the first program, when it has been detected that such second program is being executed.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves the above-described object relates to a storage medium storing a readable program including a first step of detecting, upon reception of an instruction to start a first program, whether a second program which uses a resource needed by the first program is already being executed, and a second step of terminating execution of the second program and starting the first program, when it has been detected that such second program is being executed.
According to still another aspect, the present invention which achieves the above-described object relates to an information processing apparatus including first means for detecting, upon reception of an instruction to start a first program, whether a second program which uses a resource needed by the first program is already being executed, and second means for terminating the execution of the second program and for starting the first program, when it has been detected that such second program is being executed.
In one embodiment of the present invention, when an icon FTRAN is clicked, it is then determined if a FAX application program which uses the same resource used by a file transfer application program is already being executed. If the result of the determination is affirmative, one of the programs, either the FAX application program or the file transfer application program, can be selectively executed according to the user""s instruction.
The foregoing and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.